Australia's Ponting scores 13,000th test run

ADELAIDE: Australian Ricky Ponting became the third batsmen to score 13,000 test runs on the opening day of the fourth test against India on Tuesday.

The 37-year-old swept a single to deep square leg off the bowling of Ravi Ashwin 20 minutes before tea to move past the milestone and reach 81 not out in Australia's first innings.

The former Australian captain made his debut against Sri Lanka at Perth in 1995 and reached the mark in his 275th innings having already claimed his 61st half century earlier in the day.

The only two men to have scored more test runs than Ponting, Sachin Tendulkar (15,432) and Rahul Dravid (13,262), were both fielding at the Adelaide Oval.